Upper Swansea Valley
Craig-y-nos Castle 1by Len Ley

The following sequence of
pages is by local historian Mr Len Ley. His local history notes
on a variety of fascinating aspects of the social history of
the valley can be seen at Ystradgynlais Branch Library.
Click here also to see his
poem on the valley and its people

Origins
and settingThe limestone deposits stretching
across the northern ridge of the South Wales coal field extend
westward to the Tawe valley and beyond. At Glyntawe they crown
the surrounding hills and their peaks have been exploited for
several centuries.

Lime kiln
on Cribarth

From the collection
of the late
John Morris

Limestone
was quarried from the Cribarth and burnt in huge kilns and then
mixed with mortar or spread on the land. The quarries once supplied
several furnaces at Ynyscedwyn Iron Works and increasingly large
quantities of the stone were taken down to the valley by pack
animal.

The lack of heavy transport
created the need for a waterway along the valley floor from the
port of Swansea and in 1793, Thomas Sheasby first surveyed a
course that extended for twenty miles and designed to rise 605
through 68 locks. The side elevation of the earlier plan resembled
a giant staircase, climbing ever more steeply to the huge lime
kilns above Pentre Cribarth at Abercrave. In the event, a second
survey was undertaken, and a shorter Swansea canal was cut as
far as Henneaudd, where part of its terminus can still be seen
near the Rheola Arms.

Fortunately the clamour of the industrial revolution
was avoided and our story begins in 1840, when Captain Rice Davies
Powell returned to Glyntawe and decided to build an early Victorian
country house alongside the River Tawe in the upper reaches of
the valley. He was the son of Dr William Powell, 'scion of
the Powell family of Glyn Lech Isaf', where they had farmed
the land at nearby Pen-y-cae for many generations.
Captain Powell was called to the Bar and later served with the
army in India. His maternal grandfather had been a wealthy surgeon
with the east India Company and his father had once practised
in London before returning to his birthplace and acquiring Pentre
Cribarth Farm.

There are 10 pages on
Craig-y-nos. Use the box links below to view the other pages.